Egyptian Mau Cat Ancient History

You could say the Egyptian Mau Cat is a
royal breed of cat - it was revered by the ancient Pharaohs, and saved by a modern Princess…

The Egyptian Mau cat is an ancient cat
breed - and provenly so. Genetic studies were made by Dr Leslie A. Lyons in
2010 to define which group of cats in the world had the greatest genetic
diversity. This was done because a group of cats with the greatest genetic
diversity would be the oldest, and the research might reveal the origin of our
domestic cats. The study showed that the oldest group of cats in the world were
the feral cats of Egypt.

Also another study in 2007 revealed that
all of our domestic cats had their ancesty in Egypt - all domestic cats today
have the same five female ancestors - yes, in Egypt. Also genetic studies have
recently confirmed the fact that the Egyptian Mau cat breed did indeed
originate in Egypt.

With this scientific proof in all
likelihood the Egyptian Mau cat may be the oldest
domesticated cat breed in the world.

Egyptian Mau Catin Ancient Egypt

The Nile made it possible for the ancient
Egyptians to start cultivating crops early on - the inundation of the Nile
brought fertile silt to the fields yearly, like clockwork. And crops of course
attracted vermin - rodents wanted their share too. They could destroy a crop
and cause famine - but luckily for people the African wild cat was around. In
all likelihood it was its sub species, Lybica Ocreata, that noticed the
abundance of prey in and around human settlements.

And the ancient Egyptians,
of course, liked the cat because it helped to keep their food supply
safer. So the people wanted to keep the
cats around, and treated them well. And the rest is feline history…

It is easy to believe that Egyptian Mau Cat is a descendant of the subspecies of African wild cat - in the wild the spots
"break" the outline of the cat, making it hard to spot (pun intended)
from a distance - good for a hunter, and good if you are hunted.

Also in the
shadows of any greenery the spots and lighter colored areas mimic well sunlingt
seeping through foliage, camouflaging the cat.

Did Ancient Egyptians Teach Maus to Hunt?

Many people, when writing about Maus, tell
that the Egyptians taught their cats to hunt and fetch the prey (mainly birds).
This misconception probably derives from the tomb paintings, one of the most
familiar being a relief now in the British Museum, from the tomb of Nebamun.
There a cat, very much like a bronze Egyptian Mau cat, catches a duck from the air.

(Photo source: Wikipedia)

Now this may look like a real life event,
but the fact is that Egyptians did not do art for art's sake - everything had a
symbolic, religious meaning, especially within tombs. And so, looking at the
tomb painting, we can read the following:

To the ancient Egyptian chaos, isfet, was
an ever-present danger, and balance, ma' at, had to be actively sought. Hunting
symbolized controlling the chaos of the world. Showing the tomb owner hunting
gave him magical powers in the afterlife over chaos. Wildlife, and birds
especially were thought to be symbols of chaos. And so, hunting them was a very popular scene
in tombs.

The cat, on the other hand, was a solar animal, and a symbol of
fertility. Fertility symbols were important, as they represented the tomb
owner's birth into the afterlife. The cat is often shown sitting under the
chair of the Lady of the House, and when you remember Egyptians considered
fertility and a large number of children ever-important, you now understand why
the cat sat under her chair. Egyptians had great respect for mothers, and
wanted a big family, and the cat was also a great mother, and produced many
litters during its lifetime.

The goddess Bastet, a daughter of Ra
("eye of Ra") was depicted as a female figure with a cat's head. The
feline goddesses of ancient Egypt were fierce protectors of the Pharaoh,
representing the sun's destructive power against the enemy. Also the sun god Ra
was shown killing the threatening serpent Apep in paintings in tombs and in the
"Book of the Dead" (or "Going Forth by Day as the Egyptians
themselves called it, as the book in question adviced the deceased about the
safe passage through the underworld into the light of the Field of Reeds where
they would spend a happy eternal life). This
gives even more symbolical depth to the cat paintings in tombs; fertility and
protection.

The Mau's have a "scarab"
formation on their forehead. Really, if you look closely, it looks exactly like
the scarab beetle which as Kheperu-Ra was the symbol of the rising sun -
another symbol of rebirth, and another reason for the Egyptians to revere their
cats. A fierce protector, a symbol of
fertility, with the symbol of the new sun on its forehead… You get the picture,
I am sure.

Here's a picture of Qetesh (whose portrait is on the upper right hand corner) to show you the Mau's "Scarab". You can really imagine the beetle there, can't you?

It looks like the legs of the sacred beetle are reaching down towards the cat's eyes. Ancient Egyptians saw hidden meanings everywhere, so they certainly have paid attention to this.

Also it is said that the makeup of ancient
Egyptian women imitated that of the cats. Well, as this kind of eye make up was
used before first signs of domesticated cats appeared in ancient Egypt, I think
there is another explanation. It is more likely to be an imitation of the hawk
god Horus's "eye liner" (see photo, source: Wikipedia).

The eye of Horus was an
important religious symbol - when he fought Seth, the murderer and usurper of
the crown of his father Osiris, Horus got his left eye pulled out. It was
returned to him, and healed (the moon was seen as the eye of Horus, which vaned
and appeared again). Also the eye cosmetics used had a healing function as they
kept flies out of people's eyes, and in that respects eye makeup was also
connected to Horus and the healing of eyes.

The word Mau is actually an ancient
Egyptian word mw "miu", which can be translated
as "she who mews".

Ta-Miu - a Cat Loved by an Egyptian Prince

The first evidence of domestication of cats is from the New Kingdom era, 18th Dynasty around 1700-1500 B.C. From this era comes the first cat sarcophagus too. Prince Thumosis was the older brother of Akhenaten, already pronounced as the next king after his father Amenhotep III, but died prematurely.

(photo courtesy of Ta Miu's sarcophagus: Wikipedia)

He was a great cat lover, which we know from the said
stone sarcophagus. He called his cat
Ta-Miu ("she-cat"). The cat depicted on the sarcophagus looks a lot
like Egyptian Mau. And he clearly believed for an afterlife for cats too.

Cat Worship in Ancient Egypt

After this, mummifying cats became a standard practise. The famous historian Herodotus (5th century BC) travelled to Egypt and wrote that it was the habit of people to shave their eyebrows in mourning when the family cat died. Well, while studying Egyptology I never met any other mention of this practice, and looking at what he wrote about Egypt ("Concerning Egypt" ), one can see there is a lot of "information" that is far from truth.

One is almost tempted to think
that the fun-loving Egyptians pulled his leg a bit. But personally I thought
this might be something else: Herodotus probably discussed a lot with Egyptian
priests. And if he visited the temples of Bastet, he might indeed have
connected the death of cats with shaving of eyebrows - namely the priests had
to shave all their bodily hair while they were serving at the temple.

And at Bastet temples the mummification of
cats had a more commercial function. Cats were not mummified as a sign of deep
mourning, unfortunately. Instead they were bred for the purpose of killing them
when a pilgrim was ready to pay for a cat mummy he could give as an offering to
the goddess. A cat was then caught, its
neck wrung, and then it was mummified. If
this was done by the priests who had shaved their bodily hair, perhaps
including the eyebrows, Herodotus might have written about this.

But all things considered this "cat
worship" clearly was not always such a positive thing we tend to think in
later times.

Also this killing cats on purpose does not
fit well with Herodotus's story about how anyone killing a cat would be killed
themselves.

Using Cats to Win a Battle

Another legend tells that the Persians won
the battle of Pelysium in 525 BC against the Egyptian pharaoh Psammetik III by
using cats. Knowing how the Egyptians revered cats and the goddess Bastet, the
Persian Cambyses II had pictures of Bastet painted on the soldiers' shields. Another version tells he
had living cats tied to the shields. Whatever the case, according to the story
the Egyptians dared not shoot their arrows at the cats / goddess. And so the
Persians conquered the city of Pelysium.

Leena's Books

Tutankhamun

This book travels with the King Tut - Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh -exhibition on its world tour of ten cities from March 2018 onwards

Tutankhamun: In My Own Hieroglyphs tells the story, for older children, of the life and afterlife of the famous young pharaoh in his own words. Tutankhamun tells us about the trouble he got into as a child in Akhenaten's palace in the new city of Akhetaten, and how he became a boy pharaoh. As we learn, his life changed a lot when he died as a teenager, and long years of boredom started in his tomb with only his pet monkey Fingers and his treasure for company. He did meet some of the Egyptian gods, of course, and had fun scaring off tomb robbers, but it was mostly rather dull. Then one day, some new and strange people, including a Mr. Howard Carter, arrived and began to take all the treasures out of his royal tomb. Fortunately, through the eyes of his beautiful golden mask, Tutankhamun, could have fun again traveling around the world

Mr Mummific

An ancient friend of mine, Mr Mummific dictated a book about how he became a mummy - and I was his scribe and artist. The book is available at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk

Another hilarious adventure for children with Mr Mummific, the mummy with attitude. He now tells the story of his mishaps, misunderstandings and misadventures as he leaves his tomb through the False Door to embark on the complicated and hazardous journey to the Afterlife aboard the magnificent Ship of Millions.

The Nephilim Quest Series

The first book in an epic fantasy series based on human mythology. The search for the mythical Watchers, the angels who fathered the Nephilim, the half-angels. A story that moves on three levels - our times, ancient Greece and ancient Egypt.

Preview Nephlim Quest 1: Shadowhunter online

Perfect. Just perfect. Waking up dead one morning to find you have been evicted from your body by a cursed soul from ancient Egypt. As a result, Nina finds herself in the afterlife, in the Halfway House of those souls who had kicked the bucket prematurely. She needs the help of two bored dead teenagers, an ancient angel and a repenting demon, to get back to the land of the living.

***

My Author Website at leenasbooks.com

Above is a picture of a painting I have made of a beautiful silver Egyptian Mau Qetesh. If you wish to see the painting in more detail and read Qetesh's story, click on the picture or HERE.

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